American Go E-Journal

Third time’s a charm for Iyama Yuta’s Daiwa Cup win. Iyama Yuta 9P (r in photo) was finally able to capture his first Daiwa Cup championship by defeating Cho U 9P (l) by resignation in the 6th Daiwa Cup final. This was Iyama’s third Daiwa Cup title match (2007, 2009, 2010) and Cho’s second (2006, 2010). The Daiwa Cup is sponsored by Daiwa Securities Group, with a winners’ purse of 1,500,000 Yen (approximately $18,000). Lee Sedol and Xie He in Chunlan Cup Final. In the 8th Chunlan Cup semifinals, Lee Sedol 9P defeated Gu Lingyi 5P by resignation and Xie He 7P defeated Heo Yeongho 8P by resignation. The title match (TBA) between Lee and Xie is a best of three series, with a top prize of approximately $150,000. This will be the first time that either player has competed in the Chunlan Cup final. Choi Cheolhan and Lee Taehyun in Chunwon final. Choi Cheolhan 9P defeated Kim Jiseok 7P by resignation in the semifinal round of the 15th Chunwon. Choi will now face Lee Taehyun 3P in the Chunwon title match (TBA).- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Dundee won the top division of the British Go Association’s online League Tournament’s second season, edging out the Central London Go Club (GLGC) Team A when Yohei Negi beat Yangran Zhang on December 15th. In Division 2 the Billericay Dickies took top honors, while the GLGC Team B won Division 3 and Edinburgh 3 topped Division 4. The BGA’s League Tournament was originally a team-based go league designed to be played mainly over the Internet to encourage interaction between players in different areas of the country and to encourage online play among members of the BGA. Thanks to its success, the BGA is starting up an individual league in January 2011.- reported by John Collins

The AGA Board of Directors is forming a committee to seek corporate and institutional support for special events and projects. “We are searching for a volunteer with grant-writing and/or fundraising experience to serve on the committee,” reports Andy Okun. If interested, contact Paul Celmer at pcelmer@earthlink.net

WEST SURREY HANDICAP: December 4. Despite the snow the tournament happened, a small cosy affair with only 13 entrants and 3 power cuts. It was won by Sue Paterson with 4/4; she beat Jonathan Reece (3/4) in the final round. Also on 3 were Philippe Bourrez and Max Bourget, and on 2.5 Dawn Street. The 13*13 was won by Xinyi Lu on 9/9 wins. Pits was won by Sue Paterson and the ‘identify the birds quiz’ by Tony Atkins. After the tournament, 6 of the players had a pleasant and filling meal at a nearby curry restaurant. West Surrey Go club wishes to thank all those who made the effort to attend in the face of the all the snow.EAST MIDLANDS: November 27. Despite overnight snow, 61 players managed to take part in the East Midlands Tournament at the National Space Centre in Leicester. Top of the list of prize winners was Jon Diamond. The list also contained Helen Harvey, Andre Cockburn, Matei Mandache, Matt Marsh, Ben Haines, Mark Wrangham, Mark Eddy and Andrew Russell. Winners of the 13×13 side competition were Aston’s Hamzah Reta and Ibraheem Mustafa.BRITISH SMALL BOARD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Cambridge, November 21. Andrew Simons took the national Small Board Champion’s title and £50 prize at the 17-player tournament in Cambridge, winning 6 out of 8. Prizes for 5 out of 8 went to Anna Griffiths, Pauline Bailey, Steve Bailey, Langdon Truscott and Peran Truscott. There were special prizes for juniors. Top junior was Adan Mordcovich (5kyu Wanstead) winning the £20 prize and second was Roella Smith (Cambridge) winning the £10 prize.THREE PEAKS: Grange-over-Sands, November 13-14. The Three Peaks Tournament stayed for a second time down by the sea in Grange-over-Sands. 48 players took part and Matthew Cocke topped the results list for a third time in a row. Brian Timmins was the only other player to win all 5 games. Alex Kent and Ben Riddell from Durham, and Adrian Abrahams from Lancaster won 4 games each.COVENTRY: November 6. Matthew Macfadyen held on to his local title by winning the Coventry Tournament. Andrew Kay was second and Nick Krempel was third. Winning 3/3 were Mike Charles (1 kyu St Albans), Jack Ley (4 kyu Warwick), Ben Falconer (5 kyu Warwick), Jonathan Green (6 kyu Leamington) and James Brownrigg (9 kyu Chester). 44 took part.WESSEX: October 31. 34 players took part in the 41st Wessex. It was won by Andrew Kay (4 dan Durham). Division 2 was won by Christian Scarff (1 dan Swindon), Division 3 by Helen Harvey (2 kyu Manchester) and Division 4 by Dick Norton (7 kyu Manchester).SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP: KGS, October 24. David Lee beat Matt Crosby in the 2010 Scottish Championship. The third game was played on KGS on 24th October and a win on time gave David the title 2-1.LONDON INTERNATIONAL TEAMS (AUTUMN): October 17 Mannami Kana, 4p, helped the Nippon Club team win the Autumn London International Teams. Miss Mannami was in London to help the Nippon Club celebrate its 50th anniversary and was honoured guest at the tournament. As well as helping Mr Tanaka and Mr Nao win the event, she gave a commentary on the previous week’s British Title game two (the first of two wins for Matthew Macfadyen against Vanessa Wong). Winning the new handicap sections were the St Albans team and the South London/City team.
- as reported in the December edition of the British Go Association newsletter; more information on upcoming UK tournaments is available here.

Go makes a brief appearance in the new movie Tron: Legacy. “One of the players comments to an observer that her opponent’s patience usually overcomes her more aggressive strategy,” reports reader Alicia Seifrid. “What a great movie to incorporate go into!” The game’s being played on “a nice floor board,” adds Alf Mikula, “it was too quick to get a good grasp of the position, but it did look like a real game in progress.” Thanks to everyone who passed along this sighting!

They knew that go originated in China and that black makes the first move, but the contestants on a recent Jeopardy stumbled on the question of which warrior class emerged in Japan at the same time as go, and all three were stumped by a question any beginning go player would know instantly: “A stone that is threatened with capture is said to be “in” this; the makers of Pong chose it for their company name.” Click here to see how you score on the go-related questions on the December 13 Jeopardy: scroll down to the Double Jeopardy! Round and it’s the last column on the right; answers are revealed by hovering over the amount in the box.

Twenty five players ranging from 20 kyu to 4 dan played in the San Francisco Bay Area’s December 11 monthly ratings tournament. Some just dropped in for a game or two, while others played as many as six AGA-rated games. Zhi Rui Yang 4d led the dan division with five wins, while Jay Chan 3k led the kyu division with four wins. Aaron Ye 3d, Lucas Baker 3d, Herb Doughty 4k, Victor Wang 7k, Joseph Ehrlich 17k, and Bryan Tan 20k won three games apiece. “We won’t be holding a monthly ratings tournament in January,” reports organizer Roger Schrag. “Be sure to check out the Jujo Jiang Goe Tournament instead.” Monthly ratings tournaments in the San Francisco Bay Area will resume February 12. Photos by Lisa Schrag.

Now your AGA membership could win you a free pro commentary! Send in your dan-level game record by next Monday and it could be chosen for a commentary by three-time U.S. Open champion Myung-wan Kim 9P (r), the latest addition to the E-Journal’s growing roster of contributing professionals and top players. Kim – whose other titles include the first Strong Player’s Online Tournament (SPOT1) in May 2010 – is a Korean professional (he made the quarterfinals of the 10th Samsung Cup in 2005 and took second place in the 12th BC Card Cup) who now lives and teaches in the Los Angeles area and who’s also widely-known for his 2008 historic demonstration game against MoGo running on an 800 processor supercomputer. Kim’s debut commentary will be on a dan-level game; email your game (sgf file required) to us at journal@usgo.org with “Kim commentary” in the subject line BY MIDNIGHT JANUARY 24. Please be sure to include your AGA number, as this is a member’s-only benefit.photo by Yixian Zhou

Continuing its 40-plus year practice publishing some of the best go books in English, Kiseido recently brought three new titles to market. The latest installment in the Mastering The Basics series is Attacking and Defending Moyos, in which authors Richard Bozulich and Rob van Ziejst lay out the fundamental principles of building territorial framework, and attacking the opponent’s framework, then illustrate using examples from professional games, ending with 151 problems. 300 Life and Death Problems may sound familiar, but we’re not referring Volume One of the Graded Go Problems for Dan Players series. The problems in Volume One start at about 5K, and the level of difficulty increases to about 3D. This is Volume Four of the same series, with problems beginning at 4D and taking the reader all the way through to 7D. Coming soon: two more top-level problem books, 300 Tesuji Problems and 300 Joseki Problems, Volumes Five and Six to complete the seven-volume series. Kiseido founder and publisher Richard Bozulich produced the first advanced instructional books in English in the 1960′s. With this series he has completed a continuous course of study from beginner to 7D, starting with The Elementary Go Series (seven volumes) and Graded Go Problems for Beginners (four volumes) and continuing with Mastering The Basics (seven volumes) and Get Strong At Go (ten volumes.). Altogether, his carefully crafted course of study occupies nearly two feet of shelf space and offers an accessible path to the top for anyone willing to work their way through these thirty plus volumes. And lastly, Kiseido has also published the book that go art lovers have been waiting for — Japanese Prints and the World of Go, a collection of 75 go-themed ukiyo-e. Extensive commentary provides an understanding of how each piece fit into its time and place.- Roy Laird

Registration is now open for the first-ever Young Kwon National Online Tournament, featuring a prize fund of nearly $3,000. The tournament, sponsored by Young Kwon, will be held online beginning January 22, 2011. “The purpose is to promote the game of go in the United States,” Mr. Kwon told the E-Journal. The 5-round tournament is open to all current AGA members, from 35 kyu to professionals, and eligibility rules include at least six months of residence in the U.S. in 2010. Registration deadline: January 7, 2011;Click here to register.- Edward Zhang, AGA National Tournament Coordinator